AUSTIN JONES
(usa) 1.82m / 79kgHobbies
Motorcycles, friends
Sponsors
Monster, Can-Am, MOTUL, Method, Tensor, J.JUAN
2022: 1st
2021: 2nd
2020: 8th (2nd rookie)
FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies
2022: 3rd (T4)
2021: 1st (T4)
Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge
2022: 3rd
2021: 1st
Kazakhstan Rally
2021: 1st
Andalucía Rally
2022: 4th
2021: 1st
2020: 9th
Rallye du Maroc
2022: 54th (16thT4)
2021: 6th
2019: 4th
2018: Ab.
2020: Qatar Cross-Country Rally (Ab.), Vegas to Reno (17th)
2019: SCORE International (3rd); San Felipe 250 (1st), Baja 500 (4th), Baja 400 (4th), Silk Way Rally (5th)
2018: Parker 425 (1st), SCORE International (1st); San Felipe 250 (2nd), Baja 500 (1st), Baja 1000 (1st), Baja Aragon
“Moving up to the T3 feels like a natural progression”
The talented American is still only 26 years old, but off-road racing runs in Austin’s blood. ‘AJ’ as he’s known on the bivouac, spent his childhood learning the ins and outs of racing, although it was only in 2018 that he got behind the wheel himself, after spending a year as his dad’s co-driver. In his first full season, Austin took the SCORE International championship by storm, claiming victories at the Baja 500 and Baja 1000 in the Trophy Truck Spec class. Austin took his first steps in rally-raid towards the end of 2018 by entering the Rallye du Maroc. Second on the 2021 Dakar, he followed that up by competing in the World Cup for Cross Country Rallies, taking three wins, including the final in Abu Dhabi to lift his first world title -the Monster Energy Can-Am official going on to win his first Dakar at the beginning of 2022. Throughout the American has relied on his Brazilian co-driver's even more impressive record of achievements. Gustavo Gugelmin has six Dakars under his belt. In 2018, with his compatriot Reinaldo Varela, he won the SSV category and followed that by winning the 2019 world cup in their category. Ten years ago, the Brazilian won the FIA World Cup in the T2 category. After their 2022 Dakar win and the marathon status points it gave them, the Jones / Gugelmin pairing were logical favourites to take the inaugural 2022 W2RC championship. Except a run of bad luck stopped them from making the break from rivals Mareck Goczal and Rokas Baciuska and going into the final round in Andalusia the three were separated by just 2 points! In the end Austin finished the race in fourth place to take third in the championship. For the 2023 Dakar and for the rest of the year Jones and Gugelmin will be moving up to the just as fiercely competitive T4 category and a different set of rivals, among them the current champion ‘Chaleco’ Lopez.
A.J.: “2022 was a difficult year but we did what we could and finished on a high note with third place on the final podium. Moving up to the T4 class in ’23 feels like a natural progression for us and a good motivator. The new car is not totally different from the old one but everything is a bit bigger and faster. I’m really looking forward to racing against ‘Chaleco’ (Lopez) again, we had some great battles when we raced against each other in the T4 class in 2021, he’s a redoubtable competitor… The championship looks really interesting for the coming year. The Dakar route looks good and then there’s the Sonora Rally which is just 3 hours away from where I live and which is a great region to race in. I’m also really looking forward to racing in Argentina. My first Dakar was in Saudi Arabia but I’ve heard all the stories about how much they love racing over there. The W2RC championship definitely raced the sports profile in 2022 and racing on the different continents should give it an extra boost. In addition to the World Championship I’ll be doing some races in the States and in Baja so its going to be a busy year!”
Vehicle
RED BULL OFF-ROAD JR TEAM USA BY BFG
CAN-AM MAVERICK
RED BULL OFF-ROAD JR TEAM USA BY BFG
- Mark CAN-AM
- Model MAVERICK
- Performance tuner Monster Energy Can-Am
- Assistance South Racing Monster Energy Can-Am
- Class T3.1: Lightweight Prototype Cross-Country
Ranking 2023
All news of A. Jones
W2RC: Al Attiyah and Loeb deadlocked as Kevin Benavides gains an edge
CARS: Al Attiyah wins, but Loeb comes out ahead Sébastien Loeb is not the type who needs to be told twice. Last year, after his hopes of Dakar victory went up in smoke, the Frenchman went on the hunt for high finishes in specials, which awarded from 5 to 1 points to the top 5 of each stage. His aim was to make up the 10 points separating the winner of the Dakar,...
Dakar 2023: A bumper crop of records
Cars: Quiet aplomb carries the day for Al Attiyah
Scoring 5/20 is usually very bad news, but in the case of Nasser Al Attiyah, who claimed his fifth Bedouin trophy in his twentieth Dakar start (including the 2008 edition, as the bivouac is wont to do), his track record shows that he is one of the most keen-sighted and visionary competitors in the world of rally raids....
Austin Jones: "Look at us, back to back, huh?"
Austin Jones made it two titles in as many years and categories. After T4 and T3, will he move on to T1?
"The last stage was pretty tough. There was a lot of mud, got a little stressed out about it, but we made it through to the finish. This has been the toughest Dakar that I have ever done. We've had ups and downs, but we just stayed...
Jones grabs second title in a row
The 2022 T4 champion, Austin Jones, was the most consistent driver in the lightweight prototype category this year. The American took advantage of the setbacks experienced by some of his opponents, including Mitch Guthrie, Seth Quintero and Guillaume de Mevius, to win the title in Dammam by over 50 minutes.
Jones chugging along
Ricardo Porem has gone through km 33 with the best time so far, under 30 seconds ahead of Mitch Guthrie and Cristina Gutiérrez. Austin Jones is chugging along at just over a minute and a half. A shade over 100 km stand between Jones and his second Dakar victory in a row.
The T3 race is on
Mitch Guthrie has started the special ahead of Ignacio Casale after pipping the Chilean at the post yesterday. Austin Jones still leads the overall by more than an hour over Seth Quintero. Jones will be fifth on the road today.
Dakar 2023 - Stage 12 | Loeb is a serial winner
FOCUS
The Empty Quarter continues to reveal its identity. The immense desert that plays host to most of the oil deposits exploited in Saudi Arabia is also a special playground for rally-raid riders and drivers to express themselves. The expanses of dunes discovered by the Dakar this year have few equivalents on the surface of the planet. However, the 185-km programme...
Austin Jones: “I’m excited there’s only two more days of it”
On terrain that he does not really like, Austin Jones played it safe, contenting himself with fifth place on stage twelve which was won by his team-mate Mitchell Guthrie. With a lead of more than one hour in the general rankings, the T3 category leader can start to look forward to arriving in Dammam…
“The...
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